School shooting rampage: mother of the gunman sentenced
Pontiac/Washington (USA) - The mother of the teenager who shot four students at a school in the US state of Michigan in 2021 has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

According to consistent media reports, this is the first time that a parent of a gunman has been convicted of personal responsibility for such a crime in the USA. The woman was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, as reported from the courtroom in Pontiac by CNN and the New York Times, among others.
The murder weapon was a gift from the parents to their then 15-year-old son. The mother now faces up to 15 years in prison - the sentence is to be announced in April.
After the crime, the teenager's parents were accused of buying the murder weapon and giving their underage son access to it. They are also alleged to have ignored warnings from the boy's school environment.
The 45-year-old mother pleaded "not guilty" in the trial.
Jury deliberated on verdict for more than ten hours

Her husband is due to stand trial in March. The son had pleaded guilty to all 24 charges. Last year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He did not testify in the trial against his mother.
The case has once again brought the question of the responsibility of parents for the actions of their children into focus. Parents are rarely charged and convicted for such acts of violence committed by minors in schools. Although parents have sometimes been held responsible for negligent behavior in the past, this case is apparently the first time that a parent of a minor shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The jury of twelve reportedly spent more than ten hours deliberating on their verdict.
In the United States, fatal shootings at schools and universities occur time and again. Gun laws in the USA vary from state to state, but firearms such as pistols and assault rifles are usually relatively easy to obtain. Stricter gun laws usually fail because of the Republicans in Congress and the powerful gun lobby.
US President Joe Biden has promised measures to curb gun violence, but so far without concrete results.